The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are ready for Android 15’s Bluetooth audio sharing feature

The Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 are a major improve over the unique Pixel Buds Professional by way of consolation and battery life, however additionally they brings some new options not seen in they’re predecessors, like Gemini Reside and Discover My Gadget integration. Based on Google’s spec sheet, one other new function the Pixel Buds Professional 2 have over the originals is help for LE Audio, which received me considering: Do the Pixel Buds Professional 2 help Auracast? I can now verify that sure, Google’s newest Pixel Buds do, in truth, help Auracast, and I even managed to strive it out with my very own earbuds.

For those who aren’t conscious, Auracast is a function that’s constructed on prime of the Bluetooth LE Audio normal. It was made to repair one of many greatest issues with streaming audio over Bluetooth: the shortcoming to stream audio to a number of Bluetooth gadgets. Most Bluetooth gadgets can solely transmit audio to a single different gadget, which is a limitation of the core Bluetooth Basic Audio specification. To get round this limitation, some producers like Samsung and Apple deploy customized Bluetooth stacks that permit their telephones share audio to a number of gadgets. The issue with this strategy is that it solely works if everybody has a telephone or headset from the identical producer.

Auracast solves all these issues by standardizing how gadgets broadcast audio over Bluetooth. One gadget begins an audio stream that’s broadcast over the air, after which close by gadgets that help Auracast can select to pay attention to the audio stream. The gadget that begins the audio stream acts like a mini radio tower that blindly broadcasts audio round it.

Excluding the Pixel 8a, Google’s Pixel 8 and Pixel 9 sequence additionally help Auracast, although the interface for truly connecting to audio streams is at the moment hidden in Google’s Android 15 software program. Google will doubtless allow this Bluetooth audio-sharing interface on Auracast-capable Pixel telephones in an upcoming Android 15 QPR replace. I feel the rationale it hid it’s that it didn’t have any Auracast-capable headsets that it might promote to customers — at the very least, not till now.

The Pixel Buds Professional 2, as I discussed earlier than, help Auracast. To check this, I activated Android 15’s hidden Bluetooth audio-sharing interface on my Pixel 8 Professional, began an Auracast broadcast, and related to that broadcast utilizing my Pixel Buds Professional 2 paired to my Galaxy Z Fold 6. I used to be then capable of hear the entire audio taking part in from my Pixel 8 Professional by my Pixel Buds Professional 2, although my buds have been paired to my Galaxy Z Fold 6. It’s because the Galaxy Z Fold 6 simply helps the Pixel Buds Professional 2 hook up with the Auracast broadcast, because the buds themselves don’t have any strategy to choose a broadcast and enter the right connection particulars.

After I later paired my Pixel Buds Professional 2 to my Pixel 8 Professional after which disconnected them, Android 15 displayed textual content in Settings that confirmed the buds help audio sharing. I used to be already certain of this, given my testing, however it was good to see it laid out so clearly.

I discover it unusual that Google has been so cagey with reference as to if or not the Pixel Buds Professional 2 helps Auracast. That is one thing I requested it about earlier than launch, however I by no means received a transparent reply, so I’m glad I used to be lastly capable of verify for myself that the buds help the function. Hopefully, we received’t want to attend too lengthy for Google to roll out the Bluetooth audio-sharing interface so Pixels lastly have a strategy to stream audio to a number of Bluetooth gadgets.